I'm left wondering how many of those who have phones with large screens work in offices. It is an episode of "The Office" in the making to see such a person attempt to pull out that ginormous phone out of their pants pocket during a meeting.

You need to get out into the modern world. You will NOT find a cordless phone anywhere near that size available these days.

I don't buy landlines. Still, I see a lot of those big ones in restaurants and in churches. They will likely stay in use until they break.

I'm left wondering how many of those who have phones with large screens work in offices. It is an episode of "The Office" in the making to see such a person attempt to pull out that ginormous phone out of their pants pocket during a meeting.

It happens to me all of the time. If I want to get a reaction, I'll pull it out before the meeting and lay it on the conference table for all to oogle.

I definitely would be interested at the price of $149, if they also throw in the phone function to go with any prepaid SIM card.

You can always dream can you? Unless you are willing to count the cheapest Chinese phone with the worst screen on the planet, virtually no memory, and a 5-year-old processor then something like that will never see the light of day with phone function even below $300.-.

I am afraid the general public does not share your fetish about phone sizes, Harry. Most folks think a wide variety is pretty cool.

The crucial difference between your examples and something like the Galaxy Note is the width of the device and that is the true limiting factor on how large a device is comfortable for people to use and unless somebody has particularly large hands then current devices like the gsiii or the note are about the limit as far as how big they can go before they would be too uncomfortable to hold as normal phone.

The crucial difference between your examples and something like the Galaxy Note is the width of the device and that is the true limiting factor on how large a device is comfortable for people to use and unless somebody has particularly large hands then current devices like the gsiii or the note are about the limit as far as how big they can go before they would be too uncomfortable to hold as normal phone.

I have very small hands for my height (shoe size 40 or US 7) and both my 5' Streak as well as a friend's Galaxy Note are perfectly manageable. Dialing with one hand, typing with both thumbs in portrait, everything else works best by holding the phone in my left hand and controlling it with the right hand. All is very natural and easy. These phones never feel to big once you have got the hang of it, and you will never want to go back to a smaller one.

The crucial difference between your examples and something like the Galaxy Note is the width of the device and that is the true limiting factor on how large a device is comfortable for people to use and unless somebody has particularly large hands then current devices like the gsiii or the note are about the limit as far as how big they can go before they would be too uncomfortable to hold as normal phone.

Very true...
...for one-handed devices like phones.

But tablets aren't one-handed devices, so applying phone ergonomics to tablets is really a non-sequitor. That is why we have 7-10in tablets, after all. (Way bigger and wider than phones because nobody expects them to be held in one hand.)

Casting this debate in terms of how big a phone can be misses the point of the OP which is how *small* a tablet can be and still be useful to enough people to consitutue a viable market.

Archos and several chinese generic device vendors have been exploring the sub-7in space for a couple years now with poor results so far; mostly because their target has been the low-end PMP market rather than small-tablet market the OP is thinking of.